In typical stellar, clear, riffy, opulent Monster Magnet style, _Mastermind_ delivers on all fronts -- from non-sequitur lyrics, flowing, catchy riffs and heavy, never subdued bass lines. If ever Monster Magnet was described as "mind expanding", _Mastermind_ is that much more steeped in unfathomable imagination exploration.

"Hallucination Bomb", "Bored With Sorcery", "Dig That Hole" and the initial media release track "Gods and Punks" fire off _Mastermind_ in all the lavishness MM disciples have come to expect. Tony Iommi would be proud. The fifth cut from _Mastermind_, "The Titan Who Cried Like a Baby_", blends a Nine Inch Nails feel with an Olympian themed Amon Amarth sonic discovery -- trippy. Following that, the bassy, groovy title track serves up one of the most quintessential MM songs on the release. On "Mastermind"'s coattails, "100 Million Miles" and "Perish in Fire" rock a grittier sound with an impeccable guitar solo winding-out "Perish in Fire"'s lead in to the more pleasant flowing nature of "Time Machine". The scratchy and rich "When Planes Fall From the Sky" and sensory easy glide of "Ghost Story" slip seamlessly, and perhaps revealing, into "All Outta Nothin", the last track from Monster Magnet's _Mastermind_.

Monster Magnet has once again returned in all of their lavishness and grandeur proclaiming this slap-tastic lesson in a fun-loving masculinity-infused album -- a triumph for their legions of followers worldwide; now let's see if we can coax another Atomic Bitchwax release outta Ed Mundell! Until then, "Well, I am a punked-out freak on a Big Wheel and I am crossing the frontier of lies." ("Bored With Sorcery")